View of Gale Crater from top of pediment

Solar System

Evidence Hints at Ancient Life on Mars

Scientists have found a chemical signature that hints at ancient life on Mars. But other possible explanations remain.

Gale Crater

Solar System

Gale Crater on Mars: An Ancient Lake or Just Puddles?

A new study suggests that wind, not water, created the rock layers in Gale Crater, where the Curiosity rover roams.

Solar System

NASA’s Curiosity Takes Step Toward Solving Mars Methane Mystery

New measurements from NASA’s Curiosity rover show that methane concentrations near the Martian surface vary on a daily cycle. The finding could help reconcile conflicting data.

Phobos Shadow

Solar System

Curiosity Sees Phobos Transit . . . After Sunset

NASA's Curiosity rover just spied transits of both Martian moons across the face of the Sun — including one that happened after the Sun had set.

Curiosity selfie

Solar System

Curiosity Rover Exposes Mountain’s Origin

Scientists have used an innovative measure of Mars's gravity to reveal the origin of the mountain the rover is exploring.

Mojave drill site on Mars

Solar System

Methane and Other Organics on Mars

The Curiosity rover has detected organic molecules in ancient rocks on Mars.

Drill Duluth

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Curiosity Rover is Drilling Again

An innovative technique has allowed NASA's Curiosity Rover to resume drilling Martian rocks. But the partially successful test shows that more work remains to be done.

Solar System

Mud Cracks on Mars Reveal Lake's History

Curiosity spotted polygonal shapes on the surface of rocks on Mars — now, analysis of these mud cracks is revealing the history of the long-ago lake that once filled Gale Crater.

Drilling Mars

Astronomy in Space with David Dickinson

Curiosity Tests Workaround for Balky Drill

Engineers are looking for a way to continue using Curiosity's drill after a 10-month hiatus, but restoring the drill will probably take several more months.

Solar System

Curiosity Rover Watches Clouds on Mars

Barely visible water-ice clouds coast across Mars’s skies in new videos from the Curiosity rover.

Curiosity

Curiosity's Discoveries on Mars

After four Earth years on the Red Planet, the intrepid rover has found evidence of long-gone water and habitable environments.

Curiosity on Mars cartoon

Astrobiology

Curiosity Tracks Mars’s Ancient Habitability

Curiosity scientists have tracked Gale Crater’s changing environment as it became more, then less, acidic over millions of years. Microbial life could have survived in these conditions.

Martian meteorite

Solar System

Curiosity Finds "Egg Rock" Iron Meteorite

NASA's intrepid Mars rover gets a close-up view of a bizarrely shaped space rock that landed on the lower slope of Mount Sharp.

Curiosity Selfie

Solar System

What Are Curiosity and Opportunity Up To?

As Schiaparelli prepares to land on Mars, how are the other robotic denizens of the Red Planet doing?

Curiosity selfie

Solar System

Curiosity Sees Seasonal Trends on Mars

During two Martian years, Curiosity tracks seasonal patterns in atmosphere, temperature, and maybe even methane.

Solar System

Curiosity Studies Mars Dry-out

Samples taken from two drill holes on Mars support the idea that Mars lost a whole lot of water fairly early in its history.

methane creation possibilities on Mars

Space Missions

Curiosity Finds Methane, Other Organics

NASA’s Curiosity rover has detected both methane in Mars’s atmosphere and carbon-bearing organic compounds in its rocks. But it’s unclear where these molecules come from — or whether there’s any biological connection.

Approaching

Space Missions

Curiosity Readies To Climb "Mount Sharp"

Now two years into its exploration of Mars, NASA's big rover has reached the base of the huge mound that scientists hope will reveal the Red Planet's history.

Solar System

NASA Gears Up for Mars 2020 Rover

Six years from now, there will be a new NASA robot heading to the Red Planet: the Mars 2020 rover. On July 31st mission planners unveiled the rover’s seven scientific instruments, which will pave the way for human exploration of Mars.